SOUTHAMPTON, Sept 6: England coach Duncan Fletcher has spoken publicly for the first time regarding newspaper reports he saw match referee Mike Procter before play on the fourth day of the controversial fourth Test against Pakistan at The Oval last month.

Some reports in the British press suggested Fletcher had seen Procter on the morning of Aug 20 to discuss alleged ball-tampering by Pakistan.

Later that day the tourists were penalised five runs for ball-tampering by on-field umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove.

So incensed were Pakistan by that decision they refused to take the field after tea on Sunday's fourth day, a move that ultimately led to the first forfeit in 129 years of Test cricket and a 3-0 series win for England.

Fletcher's position was clouded by some initially contradictory statements from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), regarding whether he'd seen Procter at all and, if so, what they had discussed.

The one constant was that ball-tampering was never an issue with the ECB eventually saying that Fletcher had gone to the match referee's room only to find Procter was not there.

And on Wednesday, former Zimbabwe captain Fletcher told reporters at England's team hotel that those initial press reports were false.

“All I want to say is that people thought they wrote the truth: it wasn't the truth, it was far from the truth,” he said.

“I know what the truth was and I'm very, very happy with the truth and I'd just like to move on,” Fletcher added.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, as a result of what went on at The Oval, faces charges of ball-tampering and bringing cricket into disrepute, due to be heard in the last week of September.

In a new development International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed said Wednesday that forensic tests might be conducted on the ball used at the south London ground in a bid to discover whether any tampering had taken place.

“A forensic test is being suggested,” the Australian told reporters in Delhi, where he was announcing nominations for this year's ICC awards.

“Lawyers of Pakistan and the ICC are studying what evidence can be put forth,” Speed, himself a lawyer, added.—AFP